Investigation of the residual stress in UO2-Mo composites via a neutron diffraction method

UO2-Mo composites with a core-shell structure have been considered candidates for the thermal conductivity (TC)-enhanced UO2 pellets and have demonstrated commercial potential for use in novel high-level safety reactors. Nevertheless, UO2-Mo composites tend to form micro-cracks that are caused by the presence of residual stress (RS) during manufacturing. In this work, neutron diffraction measurements were employed to analyse the RS in UO2-Mo core-shell structured composites fabricated by spark plasma sintering (SPS) for the first time. It was found that in the UO2-Mo composites, the RS state present in the UO2 matrix was tensile in nature. The RS in the UO2 matrix increased with increaseing Mo content. There was a maximum value of 148 ± 15 MPa in the UO2-10 vol% Mo composite. The micro-cracks produced in the high-Mo content composites were explained by the results of the neutron diffraction measurements. These results could provide significant guidance for the manufacturing and improvement of the operational performance of UO2-Mo composites as next-generation fuels.